Archive for January 14th, 2010

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.To subscribe, click here

Thursday, 1/14/10

Excelsior (Mexico City) 1/13/10

Immigration reform said to be slipping away

The possibility that the government of the American President, Barack Obama, may obtain a migratory reform in 2010 is seriously compromised by the weak U.S. economy, which translates into high unemployment and a lack of political support even among the majority of Democrats. According to journalistic reports, White House officials notified Hispanic activists that Obama’s government is getting ready to present a migratory reform proposal during the first semester of the year, including a proposal to legalize the undocumented and a “closing” of borders to immigrants. In statements published in the Laredo Sun daily this weekend, Congressman Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, said that “If we don’t obtain the approval of a reform between January and May, nothing will happen until 2011.”

According to political sources, the Republicans’ resistance is further complicated by the little enthusiasm from a majority of conservative Democrats, especially in the House, where they could be the difference between the reform’s approval and its rejection. The conservative Democrats make up between 20 and 25 percent of the Democrat congressional membership and many of them were just elected in strongly Republican districts. The 2011 electoral season, when the House and a third of the Senate will be renewed, could represent a serious influence on the backing of the reform proposal, given that losses are expected for the Democratic majority. But the measure counts with the definite support of the majority leader, Harry Reid.

[Yesterday’s “M3 Report”had an item from a Guatemalan paper about a hunger strike by three Guatemalans and a Honduran demanding that the U.S. stop round-ups and deportations of illegal aliens. Following is an extract from a Honduran paper about the Honduran, followed by readers’ commentaries.]

Jenny Aguilar, a Honduran illegally in the U.S. for 18 years, is now in her 13th day of a hunger strike, demanding that immigrant round-ups come to a halt. She’s tired of the limited freedom that the immigration (agency) allows her; they put an ankle bracelet on her. She states: “I want me and the rest of the persons to be free, we want our independence. We want to be free of the immigration (agency); I want them to take this bracelet off.” “We are not criminals to have to go around controlled by this bracelet. We are just people who come to this country to work.”

Commentaries from two readers followed:

– I don’t wish to be rude, but it so happens that every country has the right to apply its own laws, whether we like it or not. I wouldn’t dare to demand rights from the government which are not due to me if I had entered illegally. I’m sure that if Honduran Immigration discovers that 20 Chinese or Arabs have entered by evading its migratory controls, and cross into Honduras, they would send them back to their country.

– Think well about this, an illegal and asking for rights, please, what a parallel; because, if our Main Park were full of undocumented persons, we would do the same as the U.S. Look, child, go back to your country. If you were smart you’d be demonstrating in front of the Consulate, asking for a return ticket.

—————————–

Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 1/13/10

Guatemalans in the U.S. organize prayer services asking for immigration reform

Guatemalans in California, Florida, Rhode Island, Chicago and New York are setting up prayer services during the festivities of the Black Christ of Esquipulas [honoring the shrine of the Black Christ in the town of Esquipulas, Guatemala] so that the Congress of the United States may approve an immigration reform law promoted by Congressman Luis Gutierrez. Replicas of the miraculous image of the Christ will be placed in principal cities of those states so that fellow countrymen may participate in the various programmed religious activities. [A schedule of dates, times and places followed.]

Colombian military personnel seized 77,828 rounds of 5.56 and 7.62 caliber ammunition belonging to the “FARC” narco rebel guerilla. The event took place in the La Macarena national park in southern Colombia. Along with the rounds of ammo, the military also found fifty-seven 40 mm. grenades, 426 uniforms, half a ton of medical supplies plus a ton and a half of foodstuffs.

———————————–

Frontera (Tijuana, Baja Calif.) 1/13/10

Lots of weed in Nuevo Laredo

State police on routine patrol in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, (just across from Laredo, TX) noticed two persons “in a suspicious attitude” in front of #6601 Emiliano Zapata Blvd.; one of them, a woman, was found to be carrying a bag of weed. When another woman came out of the house to complain, the police noticed a large number of packages sealed with wrapping tape in the house. The result: 665 packages of marihuana were located. The total weight: seven metric tons (7,714 lbs.), plus 661.5 kilos (1,455.3 lbs.). Three persons were arrested.

———————————–

El Diario (Chihuahua City, Chihuahua) 1/13/10

Butchery

Two human legs were found today in a trash bin out on the street in Chihuahua City. Local officials will attempt to identify who they belonged to.

———————————–

El Sol de Tijuana (Tijuana, Baja Calif.) 1/13/10

The unavoidable report

The nine homicides victims in Tijuana “in the last few hours” bring that city’s total to 57 for the first eleven days of the month.